This documentary on “Transparency in Environment Regulation” aims at stressing upon the need for transparency in environmental regulation and weaves its narrative around MPCB’s Star Rating Program in Maharashtra. It captures the perceptions of different stakeholders of the program and narrates how this first of its kind program in India, is a great step forward in this direction.
Background:
Maharashtra is one of the most industrialized states in India, with more than 75,000 industries. Out of these, 12,500 industries are those with high pollution potential. Research done by EPIC has suggested that if the government met the WHO air quality standards, then an individual could live longer by 3.5 years in Mumbai, 2.8 years in Nasik, 3.9 years in Nagpur, 2.9 years in Solhapur. The pollution crisis is therefore becoming bigger and robbing years out of people’s life.
Looking at designing solutions, researchers and policymakers believe that making pollution data publicly available is an effective way to control emissions. This has been the experience in the United States Toxic Release Inventory initiative, the Programme for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER) in Indonesia, as well as schemes in China, Philippines and Vietnam.
This AV therefore tries to reflect upon the problem of air pollution, and the role that information disclosure can play in bringing transparency and why innovative policy schemes like these are needed to confront the dual challenge of sustained economic growth and a healthy environment.
